Ugo Aliogo
As part of efforts to improve the growth of micro small-medium scale enterprises (MSME) in the country, an online platform – i Sabi Work Nigeria Limited, is set to train and register on its online platform, two million Artisans in the next two years when the platform fully comes on stream after the official launch on March 4.
Speaking at the pre-launch in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Omotosho Oghenekevwe, said the online platform provides opportunity for people to have easy access to reliable artisans in their localities at the right time, adding that the company is committed to working with only skilled, efficient, and reliable artisans after a thorough due diligence has been put in place regarding their credibility and expertise.
She noted that the on the platform, artisans will registered with their phone numbers while stating that their business names, their services, proofs of their handiwork, thereby getting them to display their talents which would transcend into business referrals for them.
Oghenekevwe stated that they are considering on partnering with the Lagos State Government in order to access whatever benefits they have in stock for the artisans in the state, noting that they are the bridge linking these people to the private and public sector.
“There is a big gap between the artisans and their viable customers. We are also here to provide as much benefits as possible. The Lagos state is doing a lot of work for the artisans and we are here to help them tap into it. In order to adequately deliver on these promises, the company is looking to partner with the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment towards ensuring that these artisans develop a strong customer service value, which is a vital concern of the company such that the assumed regular disappointments, low response time, which are the complaints by majority of their customers can be addressed adequately and be resolved,” she added.
She further assured the public that the company is aimed at adding value to artisans by educating them, stressing that in the area of education, they are partnering with several technical schools across Nigeria, “therefore we sponsor and even those that well experienced in their chosen vocation, they still have to go through a trade test to confirm if they truly full knowledge of the trade.”
Oghenekevwe added: “We try to make sure that everyone is insured and we ensure that whatever is available to add value to these artisans is what I Sabi work is committed at doing. We aim at adding value to artisans and ensure that customers are satisfied.
“We charge these artisans a yearly fee to ensure that they take the trainings serious, also that they don’t keep their information on our website and abandon it, but they are committed. Besides, we at I Sabi we don’t need to be stagnant. Therefore to improve these artisans we need to get as much trainings as possible.
“In return their trainers might ask for one or two tokens. We are going to fully launch in April, after which will come on stream. We are presently in two states, Lagos, River and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In these states, we have people who have registered in our platform. The idea came into begin in 2014, and it took two years before coming on stream.
“We needed to understand trends going on and be ready to face the market because there are a lot of training we have to give these artisans customer care, perfection, etiquette, and others. We are not worried about competition; our aim is to add value. If any artisan is unserious, they have to give way for another artisan on the platform. We have a customer service centre to assist these artisans with registration.”
